Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], June 5 : As many as 59 free buses from Puri, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack left for Kolkata on Sunday night after rail services were halted on in Odisha in view of the triple train tragedy in Balasore that claimed 275 lives.
"Odisha is providing free bus services to the people who want to travel to Kolkata in view of the disruption of rail services due to the Bahanaga train mishap. A total of 20 buses from Puri, 23 from Bhubaneswar and 16 buses from Cuttack have left for Kolkata as of 11:30 pm on June 4," the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Odisha tweeted.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Indian Railways has started running passenger trains on the tracks in Bahanaga village in Odisha's Balasore.
Earlier, CM Patnaik announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased of the state.
The victims of the train accident are undergoing treatment in various government and private hospitals between Bhubaneswar and Balasore.
Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday waved at the crew of a goods train and prayed for a safe journey, as services resumed after 51 hours of a train accident in Balasore.
"Services on both tracks have been restored. Normal train services on both lines have now been restored, 51 hours after the accident," said Ashwini Vaishnaw.
On Sunday, Vaishnaw said the accident occurred due to a "change in electronic interlocking".
Electronic interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements between trains through an arrangement of tracks. It is basically a safety measure to prevent signals from being changed in improper sequence. The aim of this system is that no train gets the signal to proceed unless the route is proven safe.
Meanwhile, the probe of the tragic Odisha train accident that claimed the lives of 275 people and left over 1000 injured, was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
"The way this accident happened, looking at the conditions, and according to the administrative information. The Railway Board is recommending the probe to the CBI," Vaishnaw added.
The preliminary report on the tragedy said the three-way accident involved Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Coromandel Express and goods trains on three separate tracks at Bahanaga Bazar Station in the Balasore district. As many as 17 coaches of these two passenger trains were derailed and severely damaged in the accident on Friday evening.
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